It is rare for an early spring Masterworks concert given by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra to be prefaced by a day where the temperature broke 80 degrees — but the beautiful Thursday set the stage for a beautiful evening of Rachmaninoff, as the HSO continued its 2015-2016 Masterworks Series in the Belding Theater of The Bushnell.
The guest conductor for the program was Emil de Cou, who worked as associate conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra from 2002-10, and who was recently appointed music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
The first half of the program consisted of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor by Rachmaninoff. Pianist Alex Slobodyanik joined the orchestra as soloist. It is refreshing to hear this work, which is too often eclipsed by the second or the third concerto. The first is a concerto that can be as warm and romantic as an unusually warm spring afternoon.
After the concerto, Slobodyanik returned to the stage and performed the Rachmaninoff Prelude in G major Op. 32 No. 5. The prelude was played with fantastic delicacy and rich voicings. The fast and graceful figuration was placed in a lyrical context that transfixed the audience. There was complete silence throughout the hall as we absorbed each detail, and the delay before the final cadence was magical.
Solo playing was also the centerpiece of the concerto performance. The soliloquies that abound in this concerto, the cadenza in the first movement and most of the second movement were filled with insightful musicianship and imaginative interpretation. But concerti in this style are notoriously challenging to accompany, and Slobodyanik did not make this any easier for the orchestra. He delayed a page turn just before the tutti that opens the development section. He was not with the orchestra at several places after his re-entry. At the end of the performance there were several folks who gave a standing ovation, and that was a perfectly stated response. There were several moments within the concerto that deserved one.
After intermission we heard Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor. Cou used practical gestures that were clear and musical. His sense of narrative arc was effective and each movement had a clearly focused objective. The orchestra created huge sound at all the right times.
There was a moment in the first movement development where the violas articulated a fanfare rhythm on low C. It was a wonderful sound that caught our attention and became an unexpectedly memorable element. In this moment just before the ramp that leads to a climactic moment, many performances lose traction. Cou helped the HSO make moments like this one count and the drama that was produced as a result was remarkable.
The trio of the second movement is built on a tricky line for the section violins that frequently finds its way into orchestral auditions for violinists. This perpetuum mobile maintained its energy even as the music slipped into a march played by brass and percussion in F major. The horn section sounded great, and the brass in general were a huge part of the excitement of this performance.
The string played a little loud during the clarinet solo in the third movement, and that was one of the only regrets in this performance. The finale was taken at a blazing tempo that produced lively energy and the “big tune” was voiced by the orchestra with amazing sound.
The close of the symphony received a thunderous ovation. Folks were whistling and humming several different tunes on the way out of The Bushnell. Rachmaninoff makes it hard to pick a favorite.
HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S “Romantic Rachmaninoff” concert series continues 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in the Belding Theater of The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave, Hartford. For tickets: 860-987-5900 and hartfordsymphony.org.
